“I haven’t had the opportunity to play p*ssed off for a while, so I’m pretty excited to play a little p*ssed off this year.” Entering this season, Justin Thomas, cleared out his goal from the very start after only three top-10 results of 20 events he played last year. In a sport designed to make you lose, winning comes both from the skills and practice you put in and the confidence you show. So while Thomas knew how his game evolved, what really turned everyone’s heads was his take on the current World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.

“I still fully believe that I can have a year like Scottie (Scheffler) just had… I think I would be doing myself a disservice if I didn’t think I could at least do that.” For reference, Scheffler won seven times last season, including the Masters and the Tour Championship. On the other hand, it’s been well over 2 years since the two-time PGA Champion raised a title. It’s been eight years since he had a campaign like 2017 where he won five events, including his very first PGA Championship as he could only confess, “I underappreciated (winning) then, for sure.” Yet, with head held high this season, he’s already appeared in 15 events. However, his plans of having a Scottie Scheffler-like year hasn’t been on track so far.

This season, he certainly has something going in his favor– seven top-10 finishes including three runner ups and the RBC Heritage win two months ago. But he has also missed cuts to the US Open and the PGA Championship. And the ultimate goal by the end of the season? Making it to the Ryder Cup team for the USA unlike last year. So while some silver lining was certainly there, it’s not been all clear skies for the World No. 5, definitely not capturing the essence of the Scheffler admission. Now, going by what the likes of Scheffler and Rory McIlroy have been doing, Thomas has made his own announcement.

With the final major of the season on the horizon, Thomas is gearing up to go all in. He posted a medley of photos from the recently concluded Travelers Championship where he ended up at a T9. Captioning the post, he wrote, “Bogey-free on Sundays is always a good thing! Overall, a solid week @travelerschamp and lots to keep building on. Congrats to captain @keeganbradley1 on the W! Time for a little reset and rest before getting ready for @genesis_scottish_open.”

To prepare for the event in Northern Ireland, he’s opted for a two-tournament break, skipping both the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Michigan and the John Deere Classic in Illinois.

The Travelers Championship turned out to be a mixed bag for JT. He shared the lead after two days of play alongside Scottie Scheffler and Tommy Fleetwood. However, a disastrous three-over-par round on Day 3—highlighted by a quadruple bogey on the 13th hole—knocked him down the leaderboard. Thomas initially bounced back on Day 4 with three birdies to climb to T9, but for the 32-year-old, it remains a case of “what could have been.”

This isn’t a major surprise, as the two-time major winner has rarely played either event. He has only appeared twice at the John Deere Classic—missing the cut in 2015 and finishing T5 in 2013. As for the Rocket Mortgage Classic, Thomas only teed it up once, in 2023, where he missed the cut after shooting one over par.

The Genesis Scottish Open, meanwhile, serves as an ideal springboard into the final major of the season—The Open Championship, which will take place in Northern Ireland. The American will certainly look for an improvement there.

Justin Thomas is looking forward to a better major showing at the Royal Portrush

“I still get pretty p*ssed off about it and … it weighs on me more than it should,” Thomas spoke about his recent performances at the Majors. Of the three majors so far this season, Justin Thomas has failed to make the weekend in two—the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship. The latter likely stings more, given that Thomas is a two-time winner, winning his last in 2022. But this season, he shot a 3-over-par and missed the cut line by just two strokes.

He did make the weekend at Augusta National but finished T36 with a score of 2-over across four days in Georgia. These results are undoubtedly something the 16-time PGA Tour winner will aim to improve upon heading into The Open Championship. Set at the challenging Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland, the course will demand Thomas’s full focus if he hopes to capture his third major title.

So, does Justin Thomas have a real shot at winning the final major of the season?